iPhone 5 Coming to China in Late November or Early December

macrumors bot

The Wall Street Journal reports that China Telecom is preparing to begin offering the iPhone 5 in late November or early December, adding to the potential for a blockbuster holiday quarter for Apple.

Quote

Government officials haven't offered guidance on when the iPhone 5 might win final approval. But China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu said Friday in a brief interview on the sidelines of the Communist Party's 18th Party Congress in Beijing that the phone should be by early December if not sooner.

China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing was less certain. "We hope to offer it this year, but what I say doesn't matter," he said on the sidelines of the congress, adding that his company was waiting for the government to grant the remaining licenses for the phone to be released in China.

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The report notes that China was responsible for $5.7 billion in revenue for Apple last quarter, 16% of the company's total.

Apple has committed to a rapid rollout of the iPhone 5 to at least 100 countries by the end of the year, despite continuing production issues that have resulted in shortages where the device has already launched. China is typically well behind the lead pack of countries when it comes to new Apple product launches, but the compressed launch schedule for the iPhone 5 means that this gap may only be roughly two months from the first round of launches in the U.S. and other countries.

The introduction of the iPhone 5 in China is also likely to reduce the number of units being siphoned off from other countries by gray market dealers purchasing the devices elsewhere for resale in China. Despite Apple's efforts to limit their ability to soak up supplies, scalpers are still working to secure as many iPhones as possible from retail stores in Hong Kong, the U.S., and other countries to send back to China.

macrumors regular

I still can't get an iPhone 5 in Portugal (ZERO stock in shops) and still have 3-4 weeks availability in online store (which can mean, you just don't know, more than a month).

A quick browsing on european online stores and the situation appears the same (spain, france, germany, etc.)

Just to clarify that, last month in Dubai, a place where the iPhone 5 isn't yet released, you can find boxes and boxes of them in the electronics dealers.

Apple: why u no like us europeans?

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The situation is the same in the US. You can try and reserve a phone from the stores next day shipment the night before, but there is no guarantee. Two+ months after introduction and you still can't just walk in...that is stupid.

macrumors member

The situation is the same in the US. You can try and reserve a phone from the stores next day shipment the night before, but there is no guarantee. Two+ months after introduction and you still can't just walk in...that is stupid.

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I'll say ... ridiculous even?

And then people complain about Galaxy SIII and NoteII surpassing iPhone 4-4S sales ... just to point out that electronic dealers in Portugal have stocks and stocks of SIII (ok, not a fair comparison, since it's not recent enough) and NoteII (a more fair comparison, since it's recent enough).

macrumors 65816

macrumors 68000

And then people complain about Galaxy SIII and NoteII surpassing iPhone 4-4S sales ... just to point out that electronic dealers in Portugal have stocks and stocks of SIII (ok, not a fair comparison, since it's not recent enough) and NoteII (a more fair comparison, since it's recent enough).

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It is sad to see how people claim that Tim cook is some sort of supply chain guru. Apple has consistently lost volume due to an inability to execute properly at the most advantageous time for a new product: when it is actually, like, still new?

macrumors 6502a

How much does the average Chinese worker/citizen make? Are the phones being sold in China subsidized somehow? I mean, here in the US, I am of middle income and so far my family has been unable to purchase iPhones mainly because of the annual costs associated with the cellular plans. If it is somewhat out of reach for me, how can a Chinese citizen afford it? (Of course I wonder the same thing about all the unemployed 20-somethings I encounter on a daily basis...)

macrumors regular

I still can't get an iPhone 5 in Portugal (ZERO stock in shops) and still have 3-4 weeks availability in online store (which can mean, you just don't know, more than a month).

A quick browsing on european online stores and the situation appears the same (spain, france, germany, etc.)

Just to clarify that, last month in Dubai, a place where the iPhone 5 isn't yet released, you can find boxes and boxes of them in the electronics dealers.

Apple: why u no like us europeans?

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Because we Europeans are already hooked and will buy it anyway. Other markets than Europe and US are still a battle ground and Apple wants to maximize their profit. That's called global economy 101, or for the rest of us who don't like business terms let's call it what it is: GREED!

macrumors newbie

how about just produce enough in the USA first before releasing to more countries.

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That would just make more for Resellers to ship back overseas.

Apple ought to release all new products in the Far East first & swamp those markets hard & put an end to this reselling mess. It's a waste of everyone's time & resources for Apple to ship to the USA, then have resellers ship right back to the Far East.

We went Sunday morning to get an iPad 4 hearing on these forums Apple stores had plenty in stock. The store policy had all iPad/iPhone buyers in the same line, & we were denied entry & herded to the back of a long line. Even the Chinese reseller in front of us (who was back in line for his second iPhone 5 that morning) said that was dumb.

I was about to say screw it & give up, but after 10 minutes Apple declared they 'just sold out' of all iPhones except Sprint, & we went from #25 to #2 in line after the Resellers took off.

macrumors member

Because we Europeans are already hooked and will buy it anyway. Other markets than Europe and US are still a battle ground and Apple wants to maximize their profit. That's called global economy 101, or for the rest of us who don't like business terms let's call it what it is: GREED!

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Although i agree with you, i thing it's not quite that straight-forward ... And i think Apple should beware in the european market (i know, i know .. it's small, compared to china ... so they don't give a damn).

I know i lot of people in Portugal (friends and just acquaintances) who are buying "high-end" Android stuff (SIII, Nexus, OneX, Note's, etc.) just for these reasons:
- To "stick to the man", Apple being the new giant ... so "i'm cool because i'm not mainstream"
- Because they need a phone ... their old one broke and they need a new one now. ZERO iPhone 5 in the shops means "give me the next best thing".
- Apple is expensive (their "alleged" reason)

macrumors newbie

How much does the average Chinese worker/citizen make? Are the phones being sold in China subsidized somehow? I mean, here in the US, I am of middle income and so far my family has been unable to purchase iPhones mainly because of the annual costs associated with the cellular plans. If it is somewhat out of reach for me, how can a Chinese citizen afford it? (Of course I wonder the same thing about all the unemployed 20-somethings I encounter on a daily basis...)

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A tiny percentage of the Chinese population who can afford the iPhone is a huge number of sales that Apple or any company for that matter, can't ignore. Also, data plans in Asia are much cheaper than in the US.
Guess in which country all the luxury goods companies are focusing their sales at these days?

macrumors 6502a

A tiny percentage of the Chinese population who can afford the iPhone is a huge number of sales that Apple or any company for that matter, can't ignore. Also, data plans in Asia are much cheaper than in the US.
Guess in which country all the luxury goods companies are focusing their sales at these days?

macrumors G3

Just out of curiosity, since you seem to be an expert, what percentage of the phones being sold in the US are "nicked and scuffed", or otherwise damaged?

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My Apple store manager sister would be the expert, not me. She says that the iPhone 5 is still arriving predamaged out of the box and had held off buying the iP5 for herself until this past week. Hers has one tiny flaw so that makes it a keeper among the sea of nicked and scuffed iP5. So even an Apple store manager couldn't locate a truly flawless one for herself.

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 6502a

Just for the record, I can think of exactly one successful consumer product of any sort ever created in a communist country - the game Tetris. Apart from that, what has a communist country ever made that anyone in the west actually wanted to buy? Remember the Yugo?

There are, what, a billion and a half Chinese citizens - they outnumber us 6 to 1. Shouldn't there have been 6 Chinese equivalents to Steve Jobs by now? Or is there something inherent about socialism that quashes innovation by denying innovators the fruits of their labor?

I personally am not at all surprised either that the Chinese excel at turning their people into robots to build iPhones or that the Chinese have never made a product that people have truly wanted the same way the people of the world cannot wait for the next iOS device.

Let me just reiterate - this is not a racist statement. All you need to do is compare the relative prosperity of Taiwan to the mainland - there's a clear difference.

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